Friday, February 27, 2009

A Splash Of Orange/Waiting

The worst thing about having actually submitted something is trying to forget about it, get on with new stuff. Publishers will display their deadlines when requesting stuff, and most of the time it's quite a way down the line. Months. So, send something off, let it go, move on.

Not as easy as it sounds, I'm still checking twice a day to see if a decision has been made. Of course, it hasn't.

Yesterday I added a new element to the 'in progress' pile. I've always had these strange little tales rattling around my head set in a sci-fi setting. Think minimal tech-talk sci-fi, very 50's/60's feeling, old-school rocketships and form-fitted spacesuits in bright colours with go-faster stripes. Ray guns, not plasma rifles.

Anyway, I started the first story in this set, A Splash Of Orange, it all revolves around colonizing Venus. I like it, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to write out. There won't be huge fleets of starships or massive battles with aliens, these are personal little tales that just happen to be set in this particular scenario. Obviously I intend for there to be some kind of Venusian life form, but they won't be six-eyed lizard people or massive bugs. They'll be like us, only different. Simpler yet more advanced. And they'll really, really mess with the orange spacesuit wearing Earthlings trying to move onto their turf. Rocket by rocket. Cosmonaut by cosmonaut.